The country is a leading choice for South Korean travelers, ranking third after Japan and mainland China, with their number expected to increase by 30 percent this year to four million, according to Global Destination Cities Index (GDCI), published this week by Mastercard, which ranks the biggest globetrotters by country and their favorite destinations.

Last year the number grew by 44 percent to more than 3.4 million, accounting for more than a fourth of all foreign arrivals (15.5 million), Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) data shows.

A 15-day visa waiver for South Korean tourists and a rise in the number of direct flights between the two countries have made Vietnam increasingly a leading choice for South Korean tourists.

South Korean carriers Asiana and Jeju Air are offering daily flights between Busan and Da Nang, and the latter became the top foreign destination for South Koreans last summer, Korean e-commerce website Ticket Monster reported.

Last December Jeju Air began daily direct flights between Daegu City and Da Nang. Korean Air, the oldest and largest air carrier in Asia, also launched a direct service between Busan and Da Nang last year.

South Korea is the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam, with electronics giant Samsung making up almost 25 percent of Vietnam’s exports last year of $245 billion.

A South Korean tourist spends $1,120 while traveling in Vietnam, the fourth highest in a list topped by Australians, the VNAT said.

“Vietnam remains one of the favorite destinations for South Koreans,” said Park Jong Sun, head of the Korea Tourism Board representative office in Vietnam.

“Famous tourist spots such as Ha Long Bay, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Hoi An are heavily favored, particularly middle-aged tourists.”

According to Mastercard, the U.S. was the biggest source market for international travel globally, followed by mainland China, Germany, the U.K., France, and South Korea.

Overnight visitors from mainland China, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan now account for 18.5 percent of global travel expenditure in the world’s top 200 cities, up 11 percent from a decade ago.

Vietnam is in the midst of a tourism boom with a record 15.5 million arrivals last year, up 20 percent from the previous year. It raked in revenues of VND383 trillion ($16.5 billion) from foreign visitors, according to the General Statistics Office.

Tourism last year contributed 8.39 percent to the country’s GDP. The government seeks to make the industry an economic spearhead, making up 10 percent of GDP in 2020 with around 20 million foreign arrivals.

It has stepped up efforts to influence foreign tourists to return to the country through relaxed visa policies and other incentives.

The 400-year-old town in central Vietnam has leaped from the 8th position last year to the top of this year’s global ranking based on votes by Travel + Leisure readers.

Famed for the slow pace of local life as also the efforts taken to make its streets pedestrian friendly, Hoi An moved ahead of many prominent Asian destinations like Thailand’s Chiang Mai (3rd), Indonesia’s Ubud (6th), Tokyo (7th) and Kyoto (8th) in Japan, India’s Udaipur (10th) and Bangkok (15th).

Every year, for its World’s Best Awards survey, Travel + Leisure asks its readers to weigh in with travel experiences around the globe and share their opinions on the top cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and other topics. Readers are asked to rate cities based on their sights and landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness, shopping, and overall value.

Around 30 kilometers south of Da Nang City, Hoi An grew from a small rural village to the busiest trading port in Southeast Asia in the 16th century, and also became famous for ceramics and high-grade silk.

“It’s great that the inner part of the town is restricted and cars aren’t allowed, so one can walk down the center of the street to the shops and markets,” said one Travel + Leisure reader.

The town has been a pioneer in the country since 2004 for ensuring pedestrian-friendly streets. Motorbikes and cars are banned from the town center for large parts of the day – from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Accommodation reservations provider Agoda recently said Hoi An was one of world’s six best places to explore on bicycles.

Last year, Hoi An ranked second among the list of 10 safest and most exciting places on the earth for solo travelers by travel editors at Momondo, a U.K. based travel site.

British newspaper The Telegraph last year named Hoi An among world’s cheapest global destinations, citing the Post Office’s annual Long Haul Holiday Report.

Global readers of the American news network CNN listed the ancient town as one of the 16 best places in the world to relax and get rid of stress.

The number of foreign visitors to Hoi An skyrocketed 90 percent from a year earlier to 3.7 million in 2018, official data shows.

The newly-released report said that while tourism has boomed in the country, the number of foreign visitors who returned stood at just 40 percent in 2017. This is lower than key regional competitors like Thailand and Indonesia, which had some 60-70 percent and 55 percent repeat visitors in 2016, respectively.

It said road safety and cheating by tourism services are leaving bad impressions on international visitors, negatively affecting the quality of the visitor experience in many of Vietnam’s popular tourist destinations.

This has contributed to low rates of repeat visits, said the report, titled “Special Focus: Vietnam’s Tourism Developments – Stepping Back from the Tipping Point – Vietnam’s Tourism Trends, Challenges and Policy Priorities”.

“The overall problem with Vietnam is ‘return visitors’,” Carl Robinson, an American and a former war correspondent who used to lead tours in Vietnam, told VnExpress International. “People come once, tick it off their list and then don’t come back again.”

The WB report quoted a survey which found 42.7 percent of international visitors to Vietnam said unsafe traffic was among the worst travel experiences, while 24.7 percent said they were cheated by tourism businesses. 22.4 percent of foreigners complained of trouble with local vendors, it added.

Foreign tourists buy souvenirs at the Ben Thanh Market in downtown Saigon. Photo by Shutterstocks/diemtinh.

“Left unaddressed, these issues, in combination with increased crowding in destinations, risk deterring first-time visitors from returning, as well as fueling negative word-of-mouth referrals,” the report noted.

According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) statistics, road death rates in Thailand and Vietnam respectively reached 32.6 and 26.1 per 100,000 last year.

More than 18,720 accidents occurred in Vietnam last year, killing 8,244 people and injuring nearly 14,800, the National Traffic Safety Committee reported.

Traffic accidents remain the biggest single cause of fatalities in Vietnam and visitors are often shocked by the chaos they see on Vietnamese streets in big cities.

Meanwhile, travel scams remain a problem in cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City despite occasional crackdowns by local authorities, tarnishing the country’s image and discouraging tourists from returning.

Weak law enforcement and low fines are partly to blame for the pervasive fraud perpetrated on visitors, including tricking foreigners into buying things at unreasonable prices.

While Vietnam is in the midst of a tourism boom with a record high of 15.5 million foreign arrivals in 2018, a year-on-year rise of 20 percent, the numbers remained lower than that of neighboring countries in the region. Thailand (38 million), Malaysia (25 million) and Singapore (18.5 million) received far more tourists than Vietnam.

Furthermore, Vietnam has not done a good enough job of cashing in on tourism. A survey released last year at the Vietnam Travel and Tourism Summit showed that a foreign tourist spent $96 a day on average in Vietnam in 2017, three times lower than in Singapore ($325), and well below that of the Philippines ($115), Indonesia ($132), Malaysia ($134), and Thailand ($163).

Tourism is expected to contribute 10 percent to Vietnam’s GDP by 2020 when the country hopes to welcome up to 20 million foreign visitors and earn $35 billion in tourism revenues.

Vietnam has set a target of receiving 18 million foreign arrivals this year.

Ly Son, formed by five mountains, four of which are dormant volcanoes, is a combination of three islands including Dao Lon (Big Island), Dao Be (Small Island) and Mu Cu Islet. The island district, which used to be off the beaten tourism track, has become increasingly popular among both domestic and foreign visitors in recent years.

Local authorities are considering a fee of VND100,000 ($4.3) per person for visiting sites on the Big Island, the largest on Ly Son, which includes attractions like the Cau Cave, Cave Pagoda, To Vo Arch, and Thoi Loi Mountain.

A tour to Dao Be (Small Island), famous for its historical and cultural sites and museums, would cost VND50,000 ($2.2) per person.

Children below the age of six, the disabled and those who are living on the island or traveling for work will be exempt. Children aged between six and 15, the elderly and students will enjoy a 50 percent discount.

Authorities said the entry fees will be used for conservation – to preserve the local ecology, scenic spots, historical sites and museums. The funds will also be used to build needed infrastructure.

There are many national heritage sites and valuable historical evidence of Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes on Ly Son Island, but conservation of these sites has been challenged by the limited local budget, according to the district’s Party chief Nguyen Viet Vy.

Last year, Ly Son received more than 230,000 tourists, a year-on-year 30 percent increase, and also raked in VND276 billion ($11.7 million) in tourism revenues.

From Thoi Loi Mountain, travelers get a panoramic view of Ly Son Island in the central province of Quang Ngai. Photo by VnExpress/Hachi8

The 10-square-kilometer island is home to around 20,000 households who make a living on fishing and garlic cultivation.

Once a sleepy and peaceful island, Ly Son’s tourism boom in recent years prompted authorities to issue a code of conduct in 2017. The code of conduct offers recommendations for dos and don’ts for local residents, travelers and tourism service providers in a bid to turn the beautiful island into a civilized and friendly tourist spot.

In 2017, authorities in Ly Son Island issued a directive calling on local residents to minimize the use of plastic bags.

Its increasing popularity has seen the island face serious pollution with a daily discharge of more than 10 tons of garbage while its sole waste treatment facility can incinerate only 1.5 tons.

Cham and Be islands in the region are two places in the country that have banned the use of plastic. Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s biggest island, is also working with the World Wild Fund Vietnam to map out a plan to be plastic free by 2020.